Economic Empowerment

Northern Kentucky Leverages Location, Cooperation to Recruit Business

By Mike Boyer

Northern Kentucky means business. It’s more than a slogan, it’s a fact.

Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties are a primary
economic engine for the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. They
represent about 17 percent of the region’s population but produce 22
percent of the new jobs, according to Tri-County Economic Development
(Tri-ED), the Northern Kentucky economic development agency.

“We have a lot of things going for us and still do,
despite the ebb and flow of opportunity,” says Steve Stevens, president
and CEO of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

Through April of this year, for example, nine
companies announced $130 million in new investment, adding more than 400
new jobs. That doesn’t include Toyota’s $360 million investment
announced in April to expand its Georgetown assembly plant to produce
the Lexus ES 350, adding up to 750 jobs. Toyota’s North American
manufacturing and engineering headquarters in Erlanger employs 1,400.
And its parts distribution center in Hebron employs another 400.

Last year, two dozen companies evenly split between
relocations and expansions, created more than 3,700 jobs. That was
nearly triple the prior year’s job growth and the fourth best growth on
record.

Probably the best testament to Northern Kentucky’s
business climate is that many of its major employers are expanding. In
addition to Toyota, that includes cosmetic maker L’Oreal USA, machine
tool maker Mazak Corp., German-based automation supplier Balluff Inc.,
and online retailer Amazon.com.

Data compiled by Hoover’s found more than 1,000
businesses in Northern Kentucky generating at least $1 million in annual
revenue. What makes Northern Kentucky attractive for new or expanding
business?

Stevens says it starts with location. The region
sits within 600 miles of nearly half of the U.S. population, ideal from
the standpoint of logistics and distribution. The region has excellent
transportation access that includes Interstates 71, 74, 75 and 275, plus
the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron offers
nearly 200 daily flights. Cincinnati ranks as the nation’s fifth
largest inland port with 52 million tons of barge traffic on the Ohio
River and mainline rail service includes CSX, Norfolk and Southern
railroads.

“The cost of doing business is relatively low,”
Stevens says. Kentucky was ranked the seventh most business-friendly
state and the sixth lowest cost state for new corporate headquarters in a
recent Tax Foundation Report.

The region’s quality of life, from schools to recreation amenities, is also important to new and expanding businesses.

“We have very livable community,” says Stevens. “It is as much about where you live as where you work.”

The region’s civilian workforce of about 200,000
supports a diverse economy with 45 percent of total jobs in the business
sector, 44 percent in services and about 11 percent in manufacturing.

Making sure those workers have the necessary skills
for tomorrow’s jobs is an ongoing challenge for Northern Kentucky as it
is for other regions. A survey found local manufacturers have about 700
unfilled jobs. The requirements for many jobs lost during the recession
have changed, Stevens says, and employers are turning to job retraining,
recruiting ex-military and even retirees for part-time work to fill
their need.

One big advantage not often mentioned, Stevens says,
is the spirit of community and cooperation that gets things done
developed over the last 40 years among Northern Kentucky communities. It
started with the merger of two chambers of commerce, creating the
Northern Kentucky Chamber in 1969, continued with Tri-ED and shared
services in sanitation, water and transit.

“I have to credit our forefathers with the foresight for a lot of that,” he says.

So what resources are available to start or relocate a business to Northern Kentucky?

A good place to start is the commonwealth’s small
business web portal (www.onestop.ky.gov) that offers information and
resources for planning, starting operating, expand and moving a business
in Kentucky.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
(www.nkychamber.com) is the primary business advocate, monitoring needs,
offering training for employees, and sponsoring job fairs. Its
jobs-nky.com website, in partnership with Tri-EE, is a tool for
employers searching for workers with skills.

Tri-ED (www.NorthernKentuckyUSA.com), formed in 1987
by Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties as the primary economic
development vehicle, focuses on attraction, retention and expansion
of industries in three main areas: advanced manufacturing, professional
office operation and technology.

A Tri-ED division, NKY E-Zone, offers a support
program for businesses ranging from start-up entrepreneurs to
established companies commercializing a new product, technology or
process. That support includes early stage grants, forgivable loans and
equity investments through the Kentucky Enterprise Funds and the
Kentucky Department of Commercialization and Innovation. The E-Zone has
assisted more than 200 local startups and early-stage companies.

Business education and training resources at Northern Kentucky University (www.nku.edu) include:

• The Small Business Development Center (www.smallbiznku.com) offers one-on-one
consultations at no cost to on developing a business plan, access to
capital, strategic growth, marketing, technology, and internal process
improvements. It is part of a network of centers across the
commonwealth.

• The NKU College of Informatics, operating out
of a two-year-old, $52 million facility, is focused on communication,
computer science and business informatics. Through its Center for
Applied Informatics, students work with companies and others on
cutting-edge projects.

• The NKU Fifth Third Bank Entrepreneurship
Institute offers academic and outreach programs in entrepreneurship. The
outreach programs include companies that use student teams to address
issues in their business such as marketing, finance and human resources.

Gateway Community and Technical College
(www.gateway.kctcs.edu), part of the Kentucky Community College system,
offers a variety of associate degree and certificate training. Its
Center for Advanced Manufacturing Competitiveness, opened at its
Florence campus in 2010, offers workforce training in all types of
manufacturing skills.

Thomas More College (www.thomasmore.edu), the
Catholic liberal arts college in Crestview Hills, allows MBA students to
put what they’ve learned to work serving as consultants to businesses
and other organizations dealing with challenges.

The Greater Cincinnati chapter of the Service Corps
of Retired Executives [SCORE](www.scoreworks.org) offers variety of
small business information from retired business people and resources
across the entire region.